Cotton-harvester



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W. G. SEARS;

GQTTONHARVESTBR.

Patented Nov. 30,1886.

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i COTTON HARVESTER.' 166.656,466. Patented Nov. so, 1666.

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GOTTON HARVESTER.

No. 353,466. Patented Nov. 30, 1886.

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COTTON HARVESTER. 10.353,466. Patented Nov; 3o, 1886.]

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W. G. SEARS.

COTTON HARVESTER. Y No. 353,466. Patented Nov. 30, 1886.

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UNITED STATES` PATENT OEEICE.

WILLIAM GOFF SEARS, OF OHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.

COTTON-HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,466, dated November 30, 1886.

Application filed December 26, 1885. Serial No. 186,783.

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GOEE SEAEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State ot' Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Cotton Harvesters; and I do declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in cotton-pickers for gathering cotton from the plants, and it consists in the construction and' arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the annexed drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure i is a side elevation of my improved cotton picker. Fig. 2 is a detail view ofthe left-hand casing and the parts contained therein when viewed from the middle of the machine, the picker-stems being removed. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the enrire machine. Fig. 4 is a rear end elevation. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail ofthe exterior of one of the fan-casings and a portion ofthe mechanism below. Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line x c ot' Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective of the casing and contained parts shown in side elevation in Fig. l. Fig. S represents a form of the spindles or standards which carry the picker-stems; and Figs. 9, l0, and 11 are enlarged details of portions of thestem-carryingwheels, and show the way in which the stems change from a horizontal to an oblique position, and the reverse.

Like letters of reference designate like parts in the several views.

A represents the plat-form or iioor bottom, and B the drivewheels, of the carriage of the machine.

E represents the rear axle, generally made in a single piece and of the forni shown in Fig. 4, having a cross-bar secured to the platform A and an uprightat either end, fashioned with a T shape at the lower extremity, one arm of each T serving as a journal to enter the hub of the wheel, while the other armsup (No model.)

l ports a cylindrical casing, C, having a projection, a, bored to move freely upon the axle. Each ofthe reardrive-wheels is provided with a gear, F, firmly secured to said wheel, so that the revolution of the drivewheels during the the gears.

The casings C are upheld in part by their attachment to the axle E, and in part by means of hand-levers D, which have a portion of their length formed with dentations to enga-ge a pawl, b, on the platform A. By this means the casings can be raised or lowered to a greater or less distance from the ground. These casings are preferably provided with cross bars or beams cc, intersecting near the middle of the casings,at which intersections are formed bearings for the shaft a, upon one end of which is secured a gear-wheel, G, while the other end carries a wheel having an oute'r rim, I, and an inner rim, H, revolving within the casing and carrying the pickingstems, which gather the cotton from the plant. The actuation of the gear-wheels G will therefore serve torevolve the stein-carrying wheels and impart motion to the pickel-stems, in the manner to be presently described.

The gears G are connected with the drivinggears F by means of small intermediate gears, J carried by the rods or levers M. The lower ends of these levers are bored to fit movably upon the shaft or its box, which carries the gear G, and the upper portion passes through a guard fixed upon the casing C, Fig. 1, and containing a spring whose tension keeps the rod M in such position that the gears J will be in mesh with gears F. The upper ends of rods M serve as hand-levers, and when they are moved forward in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. l the gears .I will be disengaged from the gears F, so that the picking mechanism will cease to operate.

The stem-carrying wheels, consisting each of cross-bars at whose intersections are secured to the inner ends of the shafts a an inner rim, H, and an outer rim, I, revolve within the casings C in the direction indicated by arrows in Figs. l and 2. These wheels carry the picking-stems N, which have a rotary mo-l tion of their own, as well as an up and down movement, on account of their attachment` to the wheels. Each stem is supported on arod,

motionof the carriage will impart motion to4 d, to the extremity of which is rigidly affixed a friction-roll, c, journaled in the bifurcated end of a yoke spindle or standard, f g. These yoke standards or spindles are provided with springs 7L, which keep the rolls c in frictional contact with the casing-surface, and said yokes and standards are located radially in a circular series in the two -riins of the steinscarrying wheel, as shown in Fig. 2, the spindle portion passing through the innerrim, H, while the yoke portion passes through the outer rim, I. The springs serve to render the frietion-rolls yielding to any inequalities in the bed or surface onwhich they roll. Thus when stems and branches of the plant happen to get between the rolls and the rim of the wheels the springs enable the rolls to have sufficient play to move freely over such branches without the breakage of any of the parts. The lower ends of the yoke-spindles are provided with pins z', or other suitable devices for keeping them in a normal position. The inner rim, H, is perforated with a series of circular holes for the admission of the round portions g of the yoke-spindles, while the outer rim, I, is provided with a series of peculiarly-shaped slots of the form shown in Fig. 6 and designated byj, the shape being that of a longitudinal section of a couple of truncated cones placed end to end. The middle line, n a, of the slot j is diagonal to the edge of the rim at about an angle of forty-five degrees, (see Fig. 9,) and the yoke of the yoke-spindle is normally situated therein with the wider part parallel to the edge of. said rim, so that the roller e, which it carries, may move inagroove, n, formed along the inner surface of half of the casing C, and so that the stemN will be at right angles to the stem-carrying wheel, or in a horizontal position; but it will be seen that the standard will have considerable play within the slot j, so that it may takesa position approximately in the middle line of the slot-t. e., diagonal to thc edge of the rim- (see Fig. 9, line n 1a) in which case the roll e can no longer travel in a straight groove, wherefore about a half of the interior surface of the casings is not grooved; also, the stem will in this case hang down, as shown in Fig. 3, out of a horizontal position. Thus it will be seen that the interior of the casings C is not a perfect circle, but consists of two concentric semicircles of slightly-different diameter, each one comprising half the said interior surface, the one semicircular part being grooved, so that the friction-rolls will, when the stem-carrying wheels revolve, bear close within the groove and rotate the picker-stems, while the other semicircular portion, being of slightly greater diameter than the first, will be out of contact with the friction-rolls, so that during half of each revolution around the casing the rolls will not bear against it, and consequently the picker-stems will not revolve. (See Fig. 2.)

Therefore the operation of a set of stems will be'as follows: In Fig. 2 we are looking from vat our righthand. Only the rollers are here shown, the stems themselves being omitted for the sake of convenience in drawing. Now, the stem-carrying wheel is revolving in the direction of the arrows. The interior of the easing on theleft is ofsmaller diameter and is grooved, so that as the stems pass along this surface their friction-rollers will revolve within the groove, while the stems themselves will be in a horizontal position and rotating in a direction the opposite of that indicated by the arrows. In the stem=carrying wheel of Fig. 2 the slots j are so situated thatthelowerend of the middle line of those on the left hand,near est the groove, will be toward the interior of the machine, and the rest of them will have the same relative position to each other. In Fig. 7 we have a perspectiveof the casing and rims ofthe wheel within in the same position as they are represented in Fig. l. Here the slotsj on the left-hand part will have the lower end of their middle lines toward the interior of the machine. New, as the stenrcariying wheels revolve, the stems will be kept in' a horizontal position while they are nearest the rear of the machine, since it is evident that the yoke-spindles f g are so situated in the slots that the stems cannot possibly move downward out of a horizontal position, nor can they move upward out of this position,because their own weight keeps them in placeffsee Fig. 7 5) but when the stems successively reach a point in the rot-ation of the wheel where the slot, instead of moving up, begins to move down, and where what has hitherto been the top ofthe slot becomes the bottom, the same reasons for the stems being immovable do not longer obtain, and the weight of the stems causes them to fall into an oblique position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Thus gravity causes the yoke-spindles to move around in the slot to a position where said yokes will be oblique to the edge of the rim, instead of parallel thereto, as when the stems are horizontal. Evidently when the stems are movingupand are horizontal, they might be grasped with the hand and moved until the yokes take the other position in the slot- Vhen the position of the slot is reversed, gravity must accomplish what could heretofore be brought about only by mechanicalmeans. Thestemsfallintotheoblique position at a point near where the frictionrolls leave the surface of the casing and come opposite the part of greater diameter; hence the stem has no independent revolution of its own when out of ahorizontal posit-ion. Vhen the stems again reach a point where the groove begins, they strike a lug, k, which assists in throwing them quickly back into ahorizontal position as the stems and slots successively begin again their upward movement.

In Fig. 8 we have shown an enlarged view ofthe form of yoke-spindle which is preferably used with my machine, the yoke end of which IOO IIO

- ing C, as shown in Fig. 5.

is shown as bent, so that the device is similar in shape and functionto a caster. This bent form allows the friction -roller to run in a straight line without being swerved to one side or the other, as might be the case if it were carried on the end of a straight yoke-spindle. When the stems are in the oblique position, they will hardly come into contact at all with the cottoirplant; but in order to prevent any contact and keep the stems from catching the plant, I have placed guards NV W on the front of the machine, so that they may cover and shield the oblique stems.

In order to gather the cotton from the stems, a fan-inclosure, O, is secured upon each cas- This inclosure is formed with aspout, P, and contains afrevolving fairer brush, Q, which takes the cotton from the stems and carries it up through the spout I?, then depositing itin baskets or other receptacles placed on the carriage-fiooring in front ofthe spouts.

The relative arrangement of the parts of the mechanism for actuating a fan and for bringing the stems into contact with it is shown in Figs. l and 6. In a standard, R, mounted on the cross-beams of casings C, (see Fig. 7,) is journaled a shaft carrying at one end a pinion, K, and at the other a sprocket-wheel, L. The pinion K meshes with the intermediate gear, J, so that when the driving-gears are actuating the picking mechanism they will likewise actuate the connections which drive the fan. The shaft carrying the fan Q is j ournaled in a suitable bearing, and is provided at its outer end with a sprocket, S. Directly below this bearing is another bearing containing a short journal having on its outer end a sprocket-wheel, T, and on its inner end afriction-roll, U. The sprockets L, S, and T are connected and driven together by means of a chain band, V. Each fan-casing is provided with a transverse opening, m, at the bottom, Fig. 5, where the brushes come into contact with the stems as they successively pass. The frictionrollUextendsinto the easingCthrough a slot, as shown in Fig. 7, so that the frictionroll c of each stem may come into contact with it. the roll c, so that it will bear hard upon the roll U, the object of bringing the rolls into contact being to thereby accelerate the rotating speed of the pickingstem, so that it may make a complete revolution against the brush and be wholly relieved of all the cotton it has gathered. The contact of the two rollers also as sists in accomplishing another result abovereferred to-i. e., it assists in throwing the stems away from the horizontal into the oblique position.

The springs h on the spindles g serve to return the lyoke-spindles and stems to their normal position after they have passed the Speederwheel U, and the pin 1', inserted through the end of said spindles, limits` the extent of such replacement.

This contact results in'slightly depressing It will be noted that my improved machine consists of duplicate mechanism, one portion on each side, the two sides being independent in all ways and exact counterparts of each other. There are therefore two sets of piekingsterns-one on each side of the row of cotton-plants. This is a great advantage, as it allows the free passage of the main stalks of the plants between the projecting ends of the picking-stems, so that the plants will not be injured by the machine nor the machine clogged or, broken by the stalks or branches of the plants. The dropping of the stems out of the horizontal position into the oblique also accomplishes a benecial result, for if the stems were kept in a horizontal position at all times they would crowd the plant during their downward motion and greatly injure it with out rendering any return in the way of work done, for it is found in practice that they do very little or no picking while moving down;

but by placing them obliquely for the time being they are moved out of the way, so that no injurious consequences follow.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a cotton-picker, a stem-carrying wheel with an inner and an outer rim, the former being provided with a'series of apertures and the latter with a series of slots, in combination with picking-stems carried by yoked spindles rocking in said apertures and slots, and a guide, the whole arranged and operating so that the stems may be guided into a horizontal position during a part of the revolution of the wheel and may fall into an oblique position during the remainder, substantially as described.

2. In a cotton-picker, a cylindrical casing for containing the picking mechanism, which has halfof its interior surface made of greater radius than the other half, sulistantially as shown and described.

8. The combination, with cylindrical casings having the interior surfaces formed with the semi-circumferences ot' different radii, of stein-carrying wheels revolving within the said casings and carrying picking stems provided with rollers that are actuated by frietional contact with the surface having the shorter radius, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination of cylindrical casings having concentric interior semieircumfer ences, double-rimmed stem-carrying wheels revolving within said casings, the inner rim being provided with a series of holes and the outer with a series of slots shaped as the 1ongitudinal section of two truncated cones placed end to end, the lower extremity of the middle lines of the slot-s being nearest the middle of the machine, and picker-stems provided with rollers for actuating the 'stems by frictional contact with the casing, said rollers being carried by standards so operating within the slots and apertures of the rims that the IOO IIO

stems may gravitate alternately from a horizontal to the oblique position, and the reverse, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination,\vith the stein-carrying wheel,whose outer rim is provided with slots in the shape of a longitudinal section of two truncated cones placed end to end, the lower extremity ofthe middle line of the slots being nearest the middle of the machine, ot' yoked spindles for supporting picking-Steins secured to them at right angles, said spindles being situated within the slots with the yokes parallel to the edges of the rim, but adapted during the rotation of the wheel to move into a position with the yoltes oblique to the edge of the rim under the action of gravity, substantiall y as described.

6. In a cotton-harvester, the combination of a stem-carrying wheel, the picker stems can ried thereby and provided with rollers, and a cylindrical casing whose interior surface forms a track,with which the rollers come into frictional contact to actuate the stems, said interior surface having its.semi-circnmferences of different diameter, the one of shorter diameter having a groove to guide and operate the rollers, substantially as specified and shown.

7. The combination of the driving-wheels having the gears F F, the cylindrical casings C C, having crossbars c c, at whose intersec! tions are formed shaft-bearings, the shafts journaled in said'bearings and having gears G G, and ste1n-carrying wheels H I, secured upon the said shafts and carrying pickingstems, and the intermediate gears, J, substantially as shown and described.

S. The combination of the rotary shafts, the two rimmed stem carrying wheels mounted thereon, their outer rims having slots j and their inner rims a series of apertures, the picker-stems N, having rods d, which carry friction-wheels e, that are supported in yokespindlesfg, rocki ngin said apertures and slots, and the casings C, having a circumferential groove and surrounding said stem-carrying wheels, the whole arranged and operated so thatthe stems maybe guided into a horizontal position during apart ofthe revolution of the wheels and may fall into an oblique position during the remainder, substantially as described.

9. In a cotton-harvester, the combination, with a revolving stem-carrying wheel having an inner andan outer rim and a casing surrounding the wheel, of a set of pickingstems carried by said wheelr and actuated as described, which yduring half the revolution of the wheel are horizontal and in contact with the cotton-plants, but during the other half are in au oblique position out of contact with the plants, substantially as shown and described.

l0. In a cotton-harvester, the combination, with a stem-carrying wheel and a set of picking-stems carried' thereby, which are automatically adjustable by suitable means from an operative to an inoperative position alternately, of a surrounding casing having a lug, k,which assists in returning each stem from an oblique to a horizontal position, as set forth.

Il. In a cotton-picker, the combination, with the double rimmed wheels C, of the mechanism for carrying the stems,which consists of a friction-roller, c, secured on the end of a rod, d, carrying the stem, said roller being jonrnaled in the bifurcated end of a yokespindle, f g, the lower portion of which is rounded at g, and is provided with spring h, and the pin t', arranged and operating for the 'purposes shown and described.

12. In a cottonharvester, a series of stems, N N, secured to rods d, which carry frictionrollers e, that arejournaled in the bifurcated ends of yokespindlesfg, said spindles being at right angles to the stems and adapted to uphold the stem in its operations, substantially as'and for the purposes shown and described.

13. The combinatiomwith a revolving steincarrying wheel, of mechanism for carrying and actuating the stems, which consists, essentially, ofa friction-roller,@,journaled in the bifurcated `end of a caster-shaped standard secured adjustably within the rims of the said bandwheel, as shown, and for the purpose described. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

VILLIAM GOFF SEARS. Vitnesses:

PHILIP MAURO, FRED E. TAsKER. 

